Looks as if the number of students in D.C. Public Schools will drop a few percentage points this school year. And it seems as if some of those students will switch over to the city’s public charter schools.
This alleged “news” comes from reports in other papers that bear the fingerprints of two unnamed sources: Critics of Mayor Fenty’s school reform efforts and activists who hate charter schools.
First, the numbers are premature and concocted. Secondly, their relevance is extremely low, unless you belong to the whiners who will search out any factoid that can be used to nip at D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee.
The fight between public schools and charter schools is o-v-e-r. The nation’s capital has a vibrant charter school movement; with 60 charters, D.C. has the second-largest number in the nation, after New Orleans.
Thanks to Rhee and Fenty, we have moved from adults squabbling over education politics to focus on questions such as these: Can Jimmy read? Can Suzie add? Can Roberto distinguish between Iran and Iraq? Does Tanya know the capital of Nebraska?
D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells has tried to pass laws limiting the growth of public charter schools. These schools use public funds, but they operate independently of the traditional public school system bureaucracy. The 60 charter schools are under the control of the Public Charter School Board and its staff of 16.
Rhee, to her credit, has testified against any law that would limit a parent’s chance to choose or a child’s opportunity to learn. This is music to the ears of Robert Cane, executive director of FOCUS, Friends of Choice in Urban Schools.
“What difference does it make whether a child attends DCPS or a public charter school?” he asks. “Both use public funds. Both take the same kinds of students. Both do their best to provide quality education.”
Why not encourage competition between DCPS and the public charters? If airlines compete for customers, why shouldn’t public schools compete for students? Travelers might get better service and cheaper fares; students might get better teachers and spiffier school buildings.
Michelle Rhee is joining the battle rather than rolling over and asking for city council protection. She’s fixing school buildings, replacing principals, hiring new teachers. Rhee wants to get to a place where parents and students will choose public schools over charter schools. She started competing just 16 months ago; she needs a few more years to make it a fair fight.
If we want to examine enrollment rates of our public schools, let’s use them for intelligent rather than polemical purposes. In 1999, the number of students attending public schools in D.C. was approximately 75,000, adding both charter and traditional public schools. This year that combined number is closer to 71,000.
Adrian Fenty and Michelle Rhee want to get that number closer to 100,000, by attracting families to raise kids in a city that offers quality public education. Whether they get that education at public charter schools or traditional public schools is irrelevant.
